Twenty minute bites (Day 5 #10DBC #freedomplan)

As soon as I hit the button “one second” is already lost……”what this is going to be a quick twenty minutes and I won’t get much done”.

That was the thought I had when I first decided to take a (as I call them) “twenty minute bite” approach to my work, and so thought, so manifested. Just like that I decried the entire concept as just another hype to make people feel productive. Its a joke!! Or was it?

What I later realized, when I attempted the “twenty minute bite” approach, the problem was not the twenty minutes but my approach (i.e. how I used the time). On my first attempt I focused on seeing how tasks (all unrelated I might add) I could accomplish; instead of focusing on a single task. For example, if one task entailed nine (9) steps or processes which had to be done in order for said task to be completed, then the goal would be to complete as many of those steps possible, during the twenty minutes, until the task is finished.

I am in the process of setting up a consulting business and need to register with the IPO, my success plan (twenty minute bite) for completing this task :

Call the IPO and find out what supporting documents are required;

Fill out registration application collected previously;

Prepare cheque for payment;

Photocopy ID documents

I have come to realize that it’s less about having a shopping list of things to knock off in twenty minutes and more about setting definitive tasks to work on diligently and focused. Staying focused is so important. If the list is long you can feel overwhelmed even before you hit the timer; if time runs out and you only one of the fifteen items on your list can be checked as completed, it might cause you to feel unaccomplished.

A daily ritual I have adopted is to “make my bed in the mornings” even before I leave the room. Upon returning to the room seeing the bed already made give such a sense of accomplishment, if nothing else I know I did one thing that say.